1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector in which a pair of connector housings are coupled and connected together so as to establish an electrical connection, and more particularly to a connector having a coupling detecting mechanism for detecting whether or not the pair of connector housings are properly coupled together, or a connector having a lock confirming mechanism for confirming the coupled posture of the pair of connector housings as well as the coupling detecting mechanism.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
The official gazette of Japanese Patent Public Disclosure (Kokai) No. 82-180874 (not examined) discloses a coupling detecting mechanism as a means for preventing the occurrence of partial coupling of a pair of connector housings in which the pair of connector housings are not properly coupled together because a distance by which the connector housings are actually being mated is too short. Namely, in a connector of this known type, a bar-like separate detecting spacer is mounted and locked on the upper side of one connector housing in a direction in which the one connector housing is coupled with the other connector housing, and this bar-like detecting spacer is then pushed forward after the two connector housings are coupled together to see whether the leading end of the detecting spacer "protrudes or not" from a detecting portion situated on the upper side of the connector in a coupled posture whereby whether the two connector housings are coupled properly or partially is visually judged.
In addition, there are many connectors having a coupled posture locking mechanism in which a resilient locking member provided on one of a pair of connector housings is mated with a locking pawl provided on the other connector housing for locking the two connector housings in a proper coupled posture.
With the above known connector having a coupling detecting mechanism, it is possible to effect a visual confirmation of the coupling condition of the connector by confirming the protrusion of the detecting spacer. However, the connector of this known type has the following drawbacks.
In a connector for a wire harness for an automobile, there are many cases in which connector housings are connected together in a limited space, and in a particular case, connector housings have to be connected together by feel, in which case the visual confirmation described above is not possible. In order to make it possible to effect a proper visual confirmation of the status of the detecting spacer, the connecting posture of the connector has to be limited such that the leading end of the detecting spacer is easily seen. PA1 In the case of a connector in which the associate connector housing is mounted for an apparatus, it is not possible to provide a detecting portion for detecting the leading end of the detecting spacer on the associate connector housing, and therefore it is not possible to adopt this coupling detecting mechanism. PA1 In the coupled posture locking mechanism described above, whether or not the locking mechanism is properly working is confirmed through the feel of a locking operation or in a visual fashion, resulting in poor confirmation reliability, which sometimes causes a defective connector in which locking is not properly effected.